Holy Cow!

Can it seriously have been almost a month since I made my last post??? What is wrong with me? I am a blog drop-out! It's not as if we have had nothing going on. We made a fun trip to Denver in the middle of November. My little sister Lori, who has never been married, has reached the age of almost 33, and decided to take out her own endowment. She is my only sibling who is still active in the church, and her and I have always been closer than I am to my other siblings, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to be with her for this special event. It was an amazing experience. I am so proud of her. It is not easy for her to be where she is in life. She has an extremely sucessful career. She owns a beautiful, but very empty, 4 bdrm home, and has lots of great friends. She does very well, but as much as she says she doesn't need one of those husbands and especially any of those kids, I know her true heart's desire is to have all of it. The whole package. I pray that making this additional commitment to her Heavenly Father brings her closer to the things she truly wants, and that He will help and guide her in those things.
From left to right - my cousin Scott, my sister Lori, my dad Don, my mom Liz and then me and JC...it was a good day.

As we were going into the temple for my sister's endowment, my cousin Scott was coming out. Scott and his younger sister Cara were the only cousins I had a relationship with growing up. Cara and I had a paper route together and we were good friends. Scott's mom, my aunt, died several years ago from cancer. His dad remarried and basically checked out of the family, devoting all his time and energy to his "new family" leaving my cousins basically without any family. My mom has stepped in and been a parent to them when they need it, and a grandparent to their children. I know that I have said before that my mom is great, but as I tell this story, you will be able to truly appreciate the wonderful woman she is. Cara lives in Missouri with her great hubby, Boyd, and their 4 kids. Scott was married and had 6 kids. About a year ago, he went through a VERY nasty divorce. Scott is a very quiet, mild mannered person. He works 3 jobs to make sure he can provide for his family. His ex-wife was not a very nice person and had been EXTREMELY nasty and unkind since the divorce. Things like not letting the kids call Scott dad anymore...they were instructed to call him Scott and their new step-dad was dad, taking them and moving to Atlanta, not letting Scott ordain his oldest son to the preisthood, financially devastating Scott, not letting the kids talk to him on the phone....the list goes on and on. You get the picture. The situation was taking such a toll on Scott. Everyone who cared about him was praying for some kind of resolution to the situation. That he could find some sort of happiness in a very bad situation. So as we were buying Lori's new "undies", my dad came in and said my mom needed to come outside right away. I could tell by my dad's face that something was really wrong. We paid for our stuff and went outside. Scott was there with my dad and he was crying. He hugged my mom and told her that his ex-wife had died the night before. She had gone in earlier in the week for exploratory surgery, and died of a blood clot while recovering. We were all floored. It was such a shock. We didn't have time to talk very long, but Scott came with us to Lori's session. As I sat there in Lori's session a million things ran through my mind. Of coarse you worry about the kids. What would happen? They were all the way out in Atlanta. But the longer I sat thinking about it, the more I realized that this was what all of us had been praying for. No, we weren't praying that she would die...but that there would be some kind of resolution to this horrible situation. That her heart would be softened and let Scott have the relationship with his kids that any father should be given. Her motives were so selfish, and it was the children that were suffering because of it. I truly believe that this was Heavenly Father's way of making it right. Maybe he knew her heart to so hard it could not be changed and this was the only way to make the situation right. I don't know...but it makes me think. Scott was living in a one bedroom apartment and was NOT set up to take in six kids ranging in age from 13 to 3. So my mom and dad opened up their home to Scott and all of his children. When the children arrived they had the Sunday clothes they wore to the funeral and one pair of pajamas. The ex's parents refused to give Scott the rest of their belongings. So my mom would wash their clothes at night, and their pajamas by day until the situation was resolved...which was over a week! Since Scott works 3 jobs, my mom has had to be their mom. The children did not start school right away because they had to find a house to live in first. So she had all of them, all day, every day for a while. Once they found a house, my mom took them all and got them registered for school. She went shopping for supplies and clothes. All this while caring for them (they are emotionally devistated), cooking, and cleaning. They all moved into their new home over this last weekend, but my mom is still caring all day for the youngest who is 3. She has to pick one up from half day kindergarten and has all of them in the evenings when Scott goes to his night job. My mom also helps out one of my other sisters with her two boys. She has truly been amazing during this time. Some days she is stretched to her limit, and wishes she could just go back to her empty nest status, but knows what has to be done in this time of need. I am very proud of her and think of her every day and for the sacrifices she makes. She has more kids at 60+ years old than she did when she was young, but she is using her love and kindness to make a lasting impression on a group of children that have seen enough sadness and pain in their short lives to last them the rest of their life. I know they will look back as they get older on this time with my mom and remember it was with her that they began to heal and mend and get back to normal, and for that my mom should be the proudest woman on earth. I love you mom!

A Day Together as a Family.......Priceless.

This weekend we were blessed to have JC home the whole weekend. I was supposed to go to Oklahoma to see my sister's new baby but I caught Neely's cold, so we stayed home. By Saturday afternoon I was feeling a little better, and since Joshua didn't have a football game for the first time in a long time, we found ourselves with a free afternoon. We LOVE the movie Madagascar! We have been anticipating the new one since we saw the trailer for it months ago. I tried to take Neely to see Kung Fu Panda and she made it through the trailers and about 15 minutes of the movie, so I had sworn them off till she was a little older. Since that was about 6 months ago, I thought we might be able to try it again. So Saturday afternoon we packed up and went to lunch and a movie. I love BBQ, and my favorite place is Famous Daves in Little Rock. It is the yummiest! (It probably would have tasted even better if I could breath through my nose!) After lunch we went over to the Chenal Parkway theaters. If you aren't aware, these are the new theaters that have the huge IMAX screen. We went to see the 2:30 matinee. We would go see movies in Colorado on the IMAX screen and it was always the same price as any other screen in the theater, you just had to luck out and hope they were playing the movie you wanted to see on the big screen. Well, we were standing in line and I caught a glimpse of the conversation going on in front of me and heard the teller tell the man that his total was thirty something dollars for the 3 tickets he had just purchased. I got that shocked look on my face and asked the guy if I had heard right. (It would have been too easy, and not had nearly the effect if I had just looked at the price board) Sure enough, I had heard right. Matinee price for the IMAX theater, adult or child is $11. Are you serious?!?! But there we were, in line, Neely was stoked, we were excited....what do you do?? You pay $44 to see a matinee movie...that's what you do. We had a ball, and Neely sat mesmorized through the whole thing. So Madagascar 2 is her first official movie at 3 yrs 3 months. And I now have this beautiful Mastercard commercial.

Lunch at Famous Daves $46

Movie at IMAX Theater $44

Snacks at the theater $25

Afternoon together as a family......priceless.

Ready, Set, Blog!

The house is a mess, and there is a mountain of laundry that needs done, so it seemed like a great day to spend the morning not doing that and catching up on my blog. There are several posts, so just keep on reading! Love Ya!

PS - While catching up on friends' blog I found that I had been tagged! So here goes...

Seven Things I'm Thankful for:
1. My husband and kids. They are my world. Today is Veteran's Day. I have been listening to the TV while blogging and the Today Show did a segment on mom's who had lost their sons in Iraq and Afghanistan. My heart breaks and I cry out loud for those women. I cannot imagine the pain of losing a child and pray that I never do.
2. My parents and sisters. There were times in my life when I did not appreciate them, and today I am so thankful for the relationship I have with them. I am especially thankful for my mom. I grew up hoping I would never be like her (be honest, all teenage girls do it), and today I hope that I grow up to be just like her. Thanks mom!
3. The gospel. I am so thankful for the guidance it gives me in my life.
4. My husband's job. With everything going on in the world, the oil and gas industry in Arkansas might be one of few that will not suffer in these hard economic times.
5. Good friends. They are my life jacket. More days than not I feel like I could give up and drown at any moment. Thanks to them I am able to kick back to shore and head out for more. I miss friends far away...and think of you often...and am thankful for the new ones we have made here.
6. Modern conveniences. I think about those who lived without cars, running water, electricity etc, and awe at how they did it. I was definately born during this time because my Heavenly knew I could cope with all the other modern troubles in return for a flushing toilet and comfy bed.
7. Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. Enough said. LOL!

I tag...
Michelle Cannon since I'm sure everyone else I would tag has already done it!

This is Wrong on SOOOO Many Levels!

Joshua and his friend Tristen had a sleep over weekend before last. (Yes, I'm just now blogging it!) The weather was warm enough, and they decided to sleep outside. They quickly figured out that if they did that they would have nothing electronic to play with for the duration of their late night. This was their solution. Do you remember the days when you had a sleep over and you talked and goofed around playing dumb games like "Light as a Feather, Stiff as a Board?", or prank calling the boys you liked? What has the world come to??
Do you see all the extension cords??
TV, PS2/DVD player, IPOD and speakers, and a cooler for pop and snacks.

After they spent all evening hauling this stuff outside and setting it up, they retreated back into the house at about 10 pm claiming it was frostbite weather outside. I got on the internet and looked....it was 62. Yep...frostbite for sure!

Football is Over! WOO-HOO!

Well, football is finally over! I seemed like a very long season of practices and Saturday games. Joshua's team finished 3rd in their conference. They concluded the season with a great game beating Greenbrier (a team who had previously beat them) at the playoffs in Heber Springs. Congratulations to Joshua! I am very proud of him and all the hard work he put in. He had quite the learning curve trying to play Arkansas football. All of his teammates have dads who eat, drink, and live football and we just don't. They have also been playing together for a couple of years in this tiny town and he was the new kid. He had lots of things to overcome, and came out of it having a great year and getting a decent amount of playing time. I am very proud of him. Next comes basketball. We have already started practice. His first game is this weekend, but he will be in Colorado for an orthodontist appointment. That means a free Saturday for mom before the basketball schedule takes over our Saturdays again. Neely also had a very successful season as the ONLY 6th grade football cheerleader. She was a hit! Joshua at his awards banquet with Coach John.

House and Minnie

November 11th seems like as good as any day to post Halloween photos. No it's not....I apologize to both the grandmas for taking so long. Neely was Minnie Mouse. I'm sure you noticed right away that she is pink and white...not red and white. Although the Minnie Mouse we know wears red and white, the Minnie Mouse Neely knows wears pink and white. For those who don't know...the Disney Channel brought Mickey Mouse Clubhouse back to life, but this time as a cartoon of Mickey and his friends paling around. Neely LOVES this show. We have all 43 of them made saved on the DVR and most days it is all we watch. When discussing what to be for Halloween, Neely announced that she wanted to be Minnie Mouse. At this point I had not even noticed that Minnie was in pink and not red. So being the good mommy I am, I got on the internet and started looking for a Minnie Mouse costume. Neely was watching over my shoulder and I was asking her is she liked this one or that one, and she quickly had a 3 year old fit and informed me that she wanted PINK! Well, I just thought she wanted pink because she always wants pink, but then noticed on the TV that Minnie had pink on. So I started looking for the elusive pink Minnie Mouse costume. I actually found one on Disney.com, and they were on sale...but they were out of the matching ears. So, I went I ebay. I found the costume...but of coarse I could not purchase just the ears, so we ended up breaking the budget for the PINK Minnie Mouse costume. Sheesh! Josh was Horacio Cane of CSI Miami for the church trunk or treat, and when no one knew who that was, switched to House for trick or treating. House was a hit, everyone knew who that was. I guess we know which show gets watched more my mainstream Arkansas. We went trick or treating with some friends from Joshua's football team and their parents. We all had a good time....although....I still think trick or treating is dumb. LOL!

Boys will be boys! (And they wouldn't hold still so I could get a good picture!)

Tristen is some guy off the Halloween movies (I have no idea), Brian was a dead football player, and Joshua was House, and Neely REALLY didn't like the masks!!

We lucked out and Daddy was home for Halloween. We are thankful for the little things! :)

Halloween....Schmalloween!!

It is pretty safe to say that Halloween isn't my favorite holiday. I don't like costumes. They are so much hassle and expense for one dumb night. Case in point. I went to Wal-Mart yesterday. I got a few groceries (like 10 small items), candy for the ward party, decorations for my trunk (for the trunk or treat), and some final small things for the kids' costumes (we had bought the costumes in a different transaction) and I spent $127!! I have determined that it would be a much better deal for me if I just take my kids to Wal-Mart and let them each spend $20 on candy and forget all of this nonsense. I would come out WAY ahead of the game! I know what you are all thinking. How much fun would that be? And your right. There is something really cute about dressing up the kids when they are little. Not so much fun when they are Josh's age. One minute it is one thing with an investment of $30, then he wants to switch to something different with an additional investment of $20. All for $5 worth of candy! OK...I think I am done now...time to put on my happy face and talk about pumpkin carving. This is one part of Halloween I do like. This year we printed some patterns off the internet. Josh did the Frankenstein face, Neely wanted the ghost (I carved it), and I did the spider. I have to say they turned out pretty good...even if most of my spider's legs are broken! We had a great time! Carving pumpkins in Arkansas is a lot more fun than Colorado. We did it outside, and it wasn't even cold! It was actually warm inside the pumpkin....that is a far cry from fingers throbbing from the cold inside a cold Colorado pumpkin! When I was a kid, most Halloween nights were spent in your coat and boots. I'm serious! My memories of trick or treating are freezing! It was always snowing, or there was snow on the ground, or it was below 30 degrees. No wonder I don't like Halloween! I've been emotionally scarred by cold weather!


Joshua had to paint his, he said it would look scarier that way.

This is me being sad because all my legs broke!

Look at That Pretty....I Mean Naughty Little Girl!

Last Sunday Neely wore the dress that Grandma Chapman bought her for birthday. It is long sleeved and last Sunday was they first Sunday cool enough for her to wear it. (Those of you who have never lived outside Arkansas will never understand how much joy that sentence brings me! HeHeHe!!) Anyway...I wanted a picture so I could post it on the blog for grandma to see. The whole morning had not been good and Neely was in a foul mood, so it's no wonder that when I asked her to pose she gave me some attitude. So those of you who say "She is soooo cute."....I just want you to remember this moment and understand why I giggle when people tell me that. My little Neely is the "Mother's Curse" at it's finest. I'll just leave it at that. Thanks for the dress Grandma...it is VERY cute!

Love Ya!

Donan

Here is the "happy" picture...notice the tears?

Here is after the "happy" picture when she didn't get her way. Gotta love her!

Evan Michael Rogers

My youngest sister had a beautiful baby boy, Evan Michael Rogers, on Tuesday. He is the 6th grandbaby for my parents and everyone is excited to have another baby in the family. Neely was the last one so it has been a while. Everyone is fine and home from the hospital in Oklahoma. Can't wait to get over there to see him. We had plans to go this weekend but Neely came down with the green nose and nasty cough, so we stayed home. Oh, the joys of motherhood!

Just Another Day.....

OK....I'm feeling really bad about the fact that my life is so boring that I can't seem to think of anything to post! Hehe! Just another day in paradise....lets see....woke up....picked up....made breakfast....checked blogs and facebook...picked up again.....made lunch....picked up again....deep cleaned the laundry room, swept the floor, vacuumed....had to pick up again...Josh got home....went for my walk....talked to the neighbor...picked up again....made dinner....picked up again....and now I'm sitting wishing I had something better to post on the blog. Somone help me!

I've Been Tagged!!

I'm so excited....I've been tagged! It's my first time! But just as quickly as I became excited, I also freaked out. Coming up with things that I am good at has never been easy...it's this whole self-esteem thing. Anyway...here goes nothing!

7 Things I Can Do

1. I can see the good in almost any situation. Although I do have to be reminded to look for it when it comes to my kids.
2. I can tend to be controlling and OCD about the way I like things done.
3. I can cook and bake well as long as I have a recipe.
4. I can play the piano. (that was Josh's suggestion when I asked him)
5. I can organize and simplify any situation, no matter how chaotic.
6. I can seem unfriendly at times....but I'm not...just unsure of myself in new situations.
7. I can forgive anyone for anything...just ask my ex-husband. :)

7 Things I Cannot do

1. I cannot just turn the other cheek when I feel like something or someone is being treated unfairly.
2. I cannot just "whip something up" like my mother. There must be a recipe with exact measurements. (It's that OCD thing again!)
3. I cannot go out to the movies or out to eat alone.
4. I cannot sew. Little repairs, sure...building something from a pattern...forget it.
5. I cannot sleep at night without the ceiling fan on.
6. I cannot sleep at night if I can feel the stubble on my legs....or sleep in socks!
7. I cannot make a decision about what to do about the upcoming election. (uh-oh...did I really just mention politics?)

7 Things that Attracted me to JC

1. He was too shy to ask me out...so I asked him.
2. His size...he made me feel safe...and small :)
3. He was like a lost puppy. He was driving truck at the time and always drove into the dairy I worked at looking all dirty and tired. It made me want to take him home, give him a bath, and feed him.
4. It mattered to him what I thought and how I felt.
5. We could sit and talk for hours and never get bored with each other. He would be on the road and we would actually talk for hours after 9:00 pm (cause our cells would be free) while he drove to some place I had never heard of.
6. His drive and desire for the things he wanted in life, and his desire to take care of me and Josh.
7. He wanted to have children and start a family. (he was 41 when we met)

7 Things I Say Most Often

1. Are you kidding???
2. Whatever!
3. Love you!
4. Josh, knock it off!
5. Neely, knock it off!
6. Where's the phone? or Where's my cell phone?
7. Has anyone seen my keys?

7 Celebrity Admiration's

1. Bill Cosby for making fun of everyday life with kids
2. Oprah Winfrey for the good things she does in the world
3. I don't know....Judge Judy for keepin' it real...LOL
4. Sheesh these are hard....
5. Tina Fay, for her flawless and hilarious impression of Sarah Palin...LOL
6. OK...now I'm just crackin' myself up!
7. I like Ellen Degeneres too.... I agree with Janae'....that woman is funny!

7 Favorite Foods

1. Fresh baked bread
2. Tres Leche Cake
3. GOOD Ice Cream...not the cheap stuff
4. Any kind of pastry
5. Crab Legs
6. BBQ (only the good stuff)
7. Funeral Potatoes

7 People I Tag

1. Are you kidding? I don't even know 7 people with blogs!!
2. Jen Rogers
3. Lindsee Shipp
4. Misty Gifford
5. Michelle Cannon
6. Veda Charlton
7. That's it...cause I bet Celeste and Maureen don't even remember who I am!

Retakes....Definately

Joshua brought home his school pictures yesterday afternoon. I was shocked when he handed them to me, they were actually......GREAT! I thought to myself for a very long time about how good they had turned out. It is a much different process now than when I was a kid. You can pick your background color and your pose. Preparing for the worst, we picked a nice shirt with some blue pinstripes and the blue background with a normal pose. With boys there is no need to spend all night fussing over their hair and stuff like that like we did when we were kids. That morning I sent him out the door to have his 6th grade school pictures taken that are, by all rules of nature, supposed to be horrible. Isn't that right? It is like an unwritten right of passage that all of your school pictures, right up till your JR yr of high school are supposed to be awful. That way your senior pictures, as you go into the big, bright world, are fabulous. It's planned that way so when they bring home friends and prospective mates later in life, you can embarass them to death by pulling out the school pictures. I really feel like I got ripped off here! So on that note, we will be doing picture retakes....I need a full arsenal of bad pictures for when he is older!

Enjoy! And no, I'm not REALLY going to make him do retakes....but I do think I got ripped off!

Love Ya!

Saturday Night Lights!

Joshua is playing football for the second year this year. Small town Arkansas (and Oklahoma) football is something that you can only understand if you experience it. It is intense to put it lightly. It is taken just as seriously as the Arkansas University game that had been played earlier that day. Joshua's game this weekend was "under the lights". It was so fun to watch him and Joshua enjoyed it as well. I think it made the boys feel like they had hit the "big time". Joshua was especially pumped up because Brandon had made the trip over to spend some time him and watch his game. Neely, as well as several other small girls, had their cheering attire on, watching the big girls do it for real. The whole scene was very fun, and nostalgic. It made me very happy to be here in Vilonia, raising my kids in a small town. The boys won their game 14-12 and celebrated at our McDonalds (which is the other half of a shell gas station) when it was over. We packed the place! It was a great evening for everyone! Here are some pic and videos of our night!

Thank Goodness for Home Teachers and Retreats

I thought about a really long post explaining the small miracle that took place in our home over the past couple of weeks, but decided on a summary, cause the other was getting just to sappy....but I want my Heavenly Father to know how thankful I am for His love. The past 8 months have been some of the hardest of my entire life, and our family has moved 3 times in less than a year. This migration has left me feeling very isolated and alone in our struggle. This attitude has been extremly hard on my personally. A couple of weeks ago I received an email from my new home teacher's wife setting up an appointment for him to come see us. My initial response was "Oh, great.", since I had been avoiding anything "churchy" for the entire summer, due to my extremely bad attitude about moving AGAIN, and having to try and "make nice" with ANOTHER new ward. So anyway, our home teacher comes, and I immediately like him. He is kind, quiet, and immediatly understanding of our tough situation. He also mentions that I should get to know his wife and that we sound like we have a lot in common. A few days later she calls and invites me to lunch with herself and several other women in the ward. I pulled myself out of my comfort zone and went. I had a great time and decided to attend the Relief Society Women's Retreat for our ward a couple of weekends later. My immediate concern was what to do with my kids. I tried to get my mom out, but all the flights were full (she works for United) so that was a no go. Then my home teacher's wife volunteers him to watch my kids for the night, I accepted, even though I think he was crazy, and went to the retreat. It was exactly what I needed to mend my wounded spirit, and my Heavenly Father knew that. I didn't have any reverent or spiritual experiences, but I laughed and cried with a unbelievable group of women, and left hoping I could call many of them my friends. My Heavenly Father knew exactly what I needed to keep going at just that moment in time. I know I am truly a Daughter of my Heavenly Father, and he know me just as well as I know my daughter. He knows my weaknesses, and knows how to work around them to get me where I need to be, and I am SOOOO thankful for that. I have no idea who I would be without that knowledge. All of this because my Home Teacher's wife sent an email. So, thank you to my Home Teacher (the Thompson's) and their love and help, Janae' for reaching out to be my friend, and to all the wonderful women I met this weekend at the retreat. I look forward to being a bigger part of the ward and getting to know you better.

Donan

Diet Update

The diet is going great! Staying motivated....but with all the kids' activities, I find myself eating out more that I should, and of coarse I ate way tooo much at my women's retreat this weekend, which I will update you on tomorrow. As of today...29.5 lbs off! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers!

Neely's 3rd Birthday!

NEELY OPENING PRESENTS
IN THE SANDBOX WITH OUR NEIGHBOR ASHLEY

BLOWING OUT HER CANDLES
YUMMY!
OPENING HER NEW DRESS FROM GRANDMA CHAPMAN

Neely's birthday was a hoot! We celebrated with our family, and some of our new neighbors. We had a PINK princess party. We had a princess cake from Baskin Robbins, complete with pink bubble-gum ice cream. I even bought a dozen pink roses for the table centerpiece. Truly a girly event. She has been asking for a sandbox with pink sand in it since she played with her cousin Haylee's back in April. So we found the sandbox, the pink sand, and all the fixins. We set the sandbox up in the backyard before the party, and she accidentally noticed it while daddy was BBQing our dinner. OPPS! So she played some before the party. Then during the party, I had taken all the sandbox toys, and put them in one of those giant gift bags. She opened a few other presents, and then we let her open the big one. She opened that thing up, and as soon as she figured out what they were, she got the most astonished look on her face, grabbed her bag, and headed for the door! We had to stop her because she had more presents, cake and candles still to go, but she could have cared less...she was soooo excited about the sandbox toys. Our neighbors still tell me that when they think about it, they still laugh. Anyway...here are a few pictures from her special day. Enjoy!

Our Trip to Denver in July

Grandma and Grandpa Trefry recently visited and brought my camera back to me. I had left it there when the kids and I visited in July. So here are the pictures from that trip. We had a great time. We swam a lot in mom and dad's pool, went shopping, and spent a day in Copper Mountain riding the alpine slide and chair lifts. We also spent one afternoon shopping with Lori and came across some water fountains. Neely quickly decided that they were not for looking but rather for playing. It was late in the evening and beginning to cool off. There are people in the background having dinner at a restaurant, who just got a hoot out of watching her. Luckily we were still in the middle of potty training, so I had an extra set of clothes with me in my purse to put on her when we finally drug her away. Enjoy!

Love Ya,

Donan

More Colorado Pictures

Here are pictures of our day in Copper Mountain. We had a great time, but I was certainly dissappointed with the scenery. The pine beetle kill all over the mountains of Colorado has become a real problem and is effecting the beauty. It was really a sad thing to see...but we still had a great time on the alpine slide!